I have a Panasonic DMC-L1 that I purchased about a month go, and it came wih the Leica 14-50 f2.8-3.5 lens. All for $800. Which is pretty much the price of just the lens. Though it was a refurb model. It works fine up to about ISO800 and higher where there's a streak of noise on the very right hand side of the image. But that's easily cropped out. But I'm pretty sure that's just my camera in particular.
Otherwise I think it's great. The low light performance is pretty good. Photos are sharp and clear. And the best part is the camera feels the way an M camera does in your hands. Although bulkier. But it's still familiar. And having the viewfinder on the very left edge of the camera also gives it that M feel in use. It's definitely not as small as an M. But with the 25mm pancake it'll easily fit into a domke bag without making an obvious bulge.
I work for a small paper and use the camera mostly for food reviews and sports. And the 7.5MP is just fine for that application. I plan on using it exclusively while my M8 is away for upgrading. Also, with the 4/3rds, it's kind of like shooting medium format. More square than wide.
The viewfinder is dim. But it's not horrible. It just takes getting used to.
